COVID-19: India continues to witness upward surge, 23285 cases recorded in past 24 hours  

During the ame period, 117 deaths due to the virus were also registered which took the death toll to 1,58,306.

There are 197237 active cases in the country at present.

So far, 1,09,53,303 people have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

The Centre on Thursday raised concern over the upsurge in the coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, adding that the virus cannot be taken for granted if the country wants to be Covid-free.

The remark comes on a day when the Maharashtra government announced a week-long lockdown, from March 15 to March 21, in Nagpur, which reported over 1800 cases in 24 hours.

"As we were reaching here for this press conference, we learned that a strict lockdown is being imposed in Nagpur. So, we are reaching a situation where those approaches are being brought back," Dr. V K Paul, Chairman of National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration, said in a media briefing.

"We are very worried about Maharashtra. This is a serious matter. This has two lessons - don't take the virus for granted, and if we have to remain Covid-free, then, we need to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour," he added.

Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state in India. It reported 13,659 coronavirus cases on Thursday itself which is 60 per cent of the country's single-day total.

The Union Health Ministry has said that eight of the 10 cities with the highest number of active cases belong to Maharashtra. They are - Pune, Nagpur, Thane, Mumbai, Amravati, Jalgaon, Nashik and Aurangabad.

Besides Maharashtra, health authorities have issued a warning for Delhi and its surrounding areas.